In the City of Toronto, cycling is becoming an increasingly popular commuting option, and cycling infrastructure across the GTA will be expanding with the approval of Toronto’s Cycling Network Plan and infrastructure commitments in the provincial Climate Change Action Plan. To fully capture the benefits of this progress, a shift in mindset is needed to acknowledge that cycling infrastructure can be used to move goods (freight) as well as people. While there are some examples of using cycling to move goods, particularly courier services, there is a lot of room for growth and expansion.
As we work to get the most people moving in the most congested parts of Toronto, we need complementary ways to move goods along the last mile to their destination. By switching more goods movement onto bicycles we would be working towards three big wins:
- It would expand the demand, increase visibility of cycling, and thus continue to support advocacy for better cycling infrastructure across the city.
- It would directly help reduce emissions and local air impacts by taking deliveries off of fossil fuel consuming trucks and vans and moving them onto bicycles.
- It would help indirectly reduce emissions through reducing congestion on our streets.
